Street Prayer: A Case Study of the Use of Prayer by Street Pastors

10.1163/9789004260498_011

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Chapter Summary

This chapter presents a case study of prayers and praying in a south of England Street Pastors project called "Street Pastors 'Knightsborough' (SPK)". The study of SPK prayers and praying offers the researcher an opportunity to explore some of the social roles and meanings of prayer in everyday life. Just as prayer work orientates mood, so it also provides an interpretative framework through which to understand the events of the night patrol. The fact that street pastors are recognizably religious is important for people's acceptance of being offered prayer and being prayed for. However, the centrality of prayer to SPK's operation and identity draws attention to the potential vitality of religious capital for civic engagement. SPK volunteers are prayerful citizens, and their contribution to the safety and communal wellbeing of Knightsborough cannot be properly understood apart from prayer.